JUVE Patent’s Ones to Watch France 2023

JUVE Patent’s Ones to Watch in French patent litigation 2023:

• • • • Guillaume Dubos, Loyer & Abello (Paris)
      • Jules Fabre, Pinsent Masons (Paris)
      • Lionel Martin, August Debouzy (Paris)
      • Marta Mendes, Hoyng ROKH Monegier (Paris)

   

  Guillaume Dubos: The face of generational change

  Stepping out of Michel Abello’s shadow, Guillaume Dubos is taking the lead in telecom and pharmaceutical cases.

  

  Guillaume Dubos

  Traditionally, the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, known as Sciences Po for short, is the training ground for top politicians. It is where presidents of the French Republic, from François Mitterand and Jacques Chirac, to François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Emmanuel Macron, have studied. The institute can also count Loyer & Abello’s Guillaume Dubos among its alumni – the 37-year-old also completed his masters degree in IP there. Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine the young lawyer as a politician; he is far too outspoken for that.

  From his master’s degree in IP to his appointment as partner in early 2020, Guillaume Dubos’ career has followed a fairly linear path. After graduating, he completed an internship at international law firm Dechert. Working in the IP team around Marianne Schaffner laid the foundation for his interest in patent law and his later career in patent litigation. As part of his further education at the EFB (École de formation professionelle des barreaux), another internship followed, this time at Loyer & Abello. Even then, the IP boutique was known for its small but renowned patent litigation team, which has grown considerably in recent years. Dubos stayed on after completing the internship.

  Now stepping out of the shadow of Michel Abello, Dubos is taking the lead in high-profile mobile communication and pharma cases. Most notably, he is at the forefront of patent litigation proceedings. His prominent appearances in high-profile cases, most recently on the side of SFR in the extensive dispute against Intellectual Ventures, for which he received much praise from the industry, demonstrate this. One competitor says, “He handled these cases very well.”

  Furthermore, renowned litigator Abello is increasingly giving Dubos responsibility for clients such as ViiV Healthcare or Gayago. In doing so, Abello is heralding a smooth generational change at the top of the IP boutique. Just five years after Dubos began his career with the team as a junior lawyer, the firm elevated him to partner, earning strong visibility in the market. Competitors attest to his “good understanding of technical matters”, as well as his “good responsiveness”.

  Read JUVE Patent’s analysis of Loyer & Abello in the JUVE Patent France ranking 2023

   

  Jules Fabre: The one that came back

  Since leaving Teva, the young legal director has contributed to the growing visibility of Pinsent Masons’ patent team.

  

  Jules Fabre

   

  Patent litigators who make the leap to in-house IP departments rarely find their way back into law firms. Jules Fabre (37), however, is the exception to the rule, moving to the Paris office of Pinsent Masons in 2019 after a two-year spell at Teva. In his position as legal director – similar to being counsel in other international law firms – he is making an impression on the market. This is particularly evident through his work in pharmaceutical drug litigation.

  Jules Fabre set his sights on a career in IP early on, studying at the Center of International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) in Strasbourg. Initially interested in trademark and copyright issues in art, he discovered his passion for patent litigation as an associate at Hogan Lovells. Here, he was intensively involved in patent disputes across a broad range of industries, first under the guidance of Dominique Ménard, and then later with Stanislas Roux-Vaillard. After moving to Linklaters, Fabre dived deeper into patent litigation for pharma and life sciences clients, for which the team under Pauline Debré’s is known.

  When Teva offered Fabre the opportunity to join its in-house team as senior counsel in spring 2017, he followed the call to London. There, he dealt with litigation strategies in pan-European patent disputes, for example against Eli Lilly over Tadalafil. In addition to coordinating cross-border litigation, he was also responsible for product launches in Europe. These gave him experience in regulatory and commercial issues. Fabre was also politically active at Teva, playing a role in the development of the SPC manufacturing waiver legislation in 2019.

  After two years in London, however, Fabre moved back home to France. Having worked with Pinsent Masons in patent litigation during his time at Teva, his close ties to the firm led him to its Paris office. Ever since, Fabre has helped raise the French team’s profile significantly, especially in pharma litigation. Not only does he often take the lead, but, as was the case at Teva, his experience in cross-border coordination has translated to his current practice. An example is the recent case for Zentiva against Novartis over fingolimod. Thus, in a very short time, Fabre has become one of the most visible patent litigators in Pinsent Masons’ European patent practice.

  Read JUVE Patent’s analysis of Pinsent Masons in the JUVE Patent France ranking 2023

   

  Lionel Martin: Young partner on par with big industry players 

  Influenced by Grégoire Desrousseaux since engineering school, the dual-qualified litigator has recently joined his former teacher in the partner ranks of August Debouzy.

  

  Lionel Martin

   

  When Lionel Martin (37) began studying engineering at the prestigious École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, he never dreamed he would one day end up in a law firm. But one innocuous IP seminar, where the lecturer excited the budding engineer about patent law, decided Martin’s future career. His name: Grégoire Desrousseaux, then-litigator at Cabinet Hirsch.

  An internship at Regimbeau during his studies gave Martin further insight into patent law. After graduating from the ENPC, he joined Cabinet Hirsch to continue learning from Desrousseaux. At the firm, known at the time for patent litigation, he completed his law degree. Then followed a three-year traineeship to become a patent attorney, through which Martin gained a double qualification.

  When Grégoire Desrousseaux and his colleague François Pochart joined August Debouzy at the end of 2010, patent litigation activity at Hirsch declined. As soon as Martin had completed the qualification as French and European patent attorney and passed the bar exam, he followed the duo to the new firm. Here, he made a name for himself in EPO opposition proceedings over electronics and mechanical patents, which the firm often conducted in parallel with infringement suits. Together with Desrousseaux, Martin led a group of opponents for Huawei in the case against Intellectual Ventures in an opposition against diverse connectivity patents. Furthermore, Martin recently acted for Valeo in infringement proceedings against Nissens, for Saint Gobain against Knauf, and for Suzuki against Chemours.

  Additionally, Martin organises the patent prosecution team. He is also responsible for UPC matters at August Debouzy, as well as teaching at his former school, the ENPC. He also teaches at the CEIPI, and engineering school Centrale Supélec. Martin says, “Grégoire and François have had a strong influence on me professionally.” He has now fully followed in their footsteps as a dual-qualified patent litigator, engineer and teacher.

  Read JUVE Patent’s analysis of August Debouzy in the JUVE Patent France ranking 2023

   

  Marta Mendes: Building her career on an international stage

  One of Pierre Véron’s pupils, Marta Mendes has developed into a well-known patent litigator with a penchant for trade secret litigation at Hoyng ROKH Monegier.

  

  Marta Mendes

   

  No other patent team in Paris boasts as many female litigators as Hoyng ROKH Monegier. A total of 14 of the 19 fee earners are women, as are five of the seven partners. This is partly the legacy of Pierre Véron, who the French patent scene reveres as the doyen of patent law. When his renowned IP boutique merged with Hoyng ROKH Monégier in 2017, a predominantly female team led by Sabine Agé moved to the new outfit.

  Among them was Marta Mendes (40). In the broader French patent market, which is still strongly male-dominated, she has succeeded in establishing a solid position. She says, “I trust it did not make any difference to my career that I was a woman.” This is testament to the fact that, in France at least, Hoyng ROKH Monegier promotes women and men alike. Mendes has worked for important international clients from a broad range of industries, from automotive company Volvo to Zimmer Biomet in the life sciences sector, and for gaming companies such as Nintendo and Sony. Such a diversity of clients has increased her visibility in the market.

  Mendes’ interest in IP was piqued during her legal studies at the renowned Université Pantheon-Assas. She took her first steps as an intern at Paris boutique Armengaud Guerlain, followed by several months at US law firm Hankin Patent Law in Los Angeles. Mendes says, “I learned a lot from Jacques Armengaud in particular.” However, a career in the small boutique was not possible; back then, Armengaud Guerlain maintained a partner-centric strategy and did not hire any junior lawyers. As such, Mendes initially joined Herbert Smith Freehills in Paris at a time when the international law firm’s French IP team primarily focused on soft IP. Mendes, however, was just as interested in patent law, with all its technical issues, as she was in trademark and design law.

  So Mendes moved to Véron & Associés in 2011, where the team around patent litigator Pierre Véron was one of the most renowned in the French market. When the firm merged with Hoyng ROKH Monegier in 2017, Marta Mendes joined the new entity together with Agé’s team. Here, her litigation work for clients such as Sony against Subsonic over PlayStation controllers brought her much attention in the market.

  Mendes, who already worked in cross-border cases at Véron & Associés, is now also increasingly involved in coordinating pan-European patent disputes, such as Ceva in the dispute against Bayer. She also focuses on trade secret litigation, the case volume of which has recently increased. For example, she represented Zimmer Biomet against Heraeus over trade secrets before a commercial court.

  Read JUVE Patent’s analysis of Hoyng ROKH Monegier in the JUVE Patent France ranking 2023